The present invention relates to an apparatus for transforming plastics material preforms into plastics material containers. Such apparatuses have been known from the prior art for a long time. In this case it is customary for heated plastic preforms to be supplied to this apparatus and expanded by being acted upon with compressed air to form plastics material containers or plastic bottles respectively. For this purpose, a blow molding piston with a blow molding nozzle is placed on the plastics material preform and it acts upon the latter with compressed air. It is customary for a stretching rod also to be introduced through this blow molding piston or the blow molding nozzle respectively into the interior of the plastics material preform in order to stretch the latter in the longitudinal direction thereof.
In this case it is known for lines, which convey the gaseous medium—starting from a reservoir for example—to the blow molding nozzle, to be provided inside this blow molding piston. In this case these lines usually extend in part in a vertical direction and in part in a horizontal direction. These lines in the prior art therefore usually have bends, for example 90° bends, which can be obstructive for the air flow. In addition, this arrangement leads to an increased dead space. In particular, in the case of sterile arrangements, germs can be formed or settle respectively in the regions of these bends. A dead space is to be understood below as being that space which, in particular, is filled with a gas and which is used exclusively for conveying a medium, in particular, a blowing air and, in particular, terminates at a valve element such as for example a piston. The gas, situated in the dead space, can thus not be used completely for the expansion of the plastics material preforms. This is why efforts are made to reduce the dead space as much as possible.
It is therefore desired to improve the applying of the plastics material preforms during the expansion procedure thereof with a gaseous medium, and for example with blow molding air.